Eyes are the Window to the Soul
by Eletha Landon
Summary: I've known him for years, and I feel as if I know him more than anyone. It's just to bad that he hardly acknowledges my existence... at least for the longest time, that's what I believed. AU/ One shot... SasukexSakura
1. October

**Story- Eyes are the Window to the Soul.**

**Author- Amethyst-Blood Crimson-Tears**

**Genre- Hurt/ Comfort/ Romance**

**Characters- Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno**

**Summary- I've known him for years, and I feel as if I know him more than anyone. It's just to bad that he hardly acknowledges my existence... at least for the longest time, that's what I believed.**

**Type- AU/ One shot.**

**Note- This has been in my head for some time now, and I wanted to get it out here because I felt like it was one shot worthy. It's just a different rendition of how I believe Sasuke and Sakura's real relationship is. Review please, and enjoy. Its pretty lengthy, but I kept it at a short story length. And it is a one shot but I separated the transitions in the story to separate pages as if they were chapters. That way you aren't reading something too overly-long. So please give it a chance.**

* * *

_**October: Things can change.**_

Today wasn't any different from yesterday. Or any other day for the matter. I sat on the far left, and stole my rare glances of him on the far right of the classroom. His seat just happened to be a row in front of mine; resulting in the best angle of how his black locks framed his jaw then lashed out in a messy disarray down the nape of his sleek neck, and the perfect view where his gray porcelain cheek met his stoic obsidian eyes. Eyes that, over the years, I have become very fond of.

They were like partially opened doors, teasing me with his mysteries that I was only able to decode half way. They were taunting, mesmerizing, perplexing, and cold. Hard and cold, as he shut himself away from the world. They only reflected how quiet and placid he was; never opening himself to anyone other than those exceptional few.

He only trusted his older brother Itachi. After all Itachi was all Sasuke Uchiha had left by means of family. There was also his best friend. Surprisingly the complete opposite of him, his best friend Naruto Uzumaki was the loudest person in the universe. But I had reasons to believe that Naruto kept Sasuke sane with all his crazy antics. There was a special... bond they shared. Years of a mutual understanding shared between them that kept the two close.

No one else could even fathom the idea of having any true level of understanding with Sasuke Uchiha, therefore Naruto was his only friend. Well... the only friend he actually cared to have. Everyone else he simply shut down... and because of that, in all the time I have known him, I never even tried to be close to him.

The other reasoning behind this dawned in the most agonizingly painful and obvious of ways just as the bell rang, of course startling me from the fix I was on. Though Sasuke didn't have any true friends here at Konoha high school, or in the city for the matter, he was still the most popular guy in- possibly, the entire fire county. Proven by the mob of fan girls that instantly swarmed his desk. As for me... well, his league was light-years beyond my own.

Sasuke's fan girls, as I've come to label them, made efforts in vain. I took note out of my peripheral vision, hardly concentrating on actually putting my books neatly in my book-bag, that just as always Sasuke slipped past the squealing vultures and out the door. All without saying a word. The Uchiha earned an echoing 'aaaah,' of disappointment from his fan girls.

Their obsession was fairly transparent. Anyone could simply look at Sasuke and fall head over heals for his exceptionally stunning good looks. A sickening, unreasonable love if you ask me. I couldn't honestly say that I never reacted to Sasuke that way. Because, believe me, I suffered from the very same teenage- girl syndrome when I was like seven. When I first saw him. Who wouldn't? He gave off that cool aura, and he was dark, and mysterious, and gorgeous. And his eyes... it wasn't until I was eight, it took me one year of secret admiring to catch that rare glimpse...

If you really looked into Sasuke Uchiha's eyes, just as I always did, just as I did when he passed through the door frame of the classroom... you could see the unbearable pain and sorrow of solitude that weighed down his shoulders.

I am just as obsessed, but since then, my love has no longer been unreasonable. But it sure has been unheard.

The class filed out after Sasuke's wake, and I followed in the background. That's all I am here. I'm just as quiet and reserved as the boy I long for, perhaps just as alone too. Though I do have a family, and a few acquaintances that might care about me... but since I've grown my affections for Sasuke, I've always felt like his pain was shared with me... at least I wanted him to share it with me. I couldn't stand to see him so isolated, so alone. But he hardly knew I existed... therefore I was alone.

I glanced at his seat, the spot I had seen him the past four years of our high school career- for we shared the same home room. And several other classes if you wanted to get technical about it. Including those since about the second grade when Sasuke was pushed into my life. Yeah, I've known the guy for years, and I've been in his background for that time span as well... but nothing was different from the day before or the day before that, and so on.

I gaped a little longer than I intended to at Sasuke's unoccupied desk. The classroom was empty, so I was by myself, alone with my thoughts. But as I focused more on the actual generic red chair, I noticed a dull gray object obscure the color scheme beneath it, rendering it out of place.

A notebook... Sasuke's notebook.

He must have forgotten it. Worry filled me, since I knew our next class shared later that day was AP Calc. You were literally lost if you didn't take notes in that class, and I had noticed before that Sasuke was a very studious note taker. He would need the notebook.

Not quite thinking about what I was actually doing; this was truly something I didn't do often... or ever, I quickly grabbed the notebook and lunged out into the hall. Sasuke was already 100 feet away, about to round the corner and be lost in a sea of Konoha's students. My legs had a mind of their own, and before I knew it I was only a few feet away.

The words slipped from my mouth effortlessly, like I had been saying them my whole life.

"Sasuke, wait up!"

To my utter surprise, he stopped. I was actually pretty athletic. Just not very graceful. I had planned on him to be ignorant and to have kept walking. I would have charged in front of him in order to return his notebook, but instead I lost my footing in his sudden stop and bound right into his statuesque figure.

With an inaudible gasp I fell to the linoleum floor, my hip thudding hard against its surface. My book-bag was also dislodged from my shoulder, spilling its contents with several thumps and clatters, along with Sasuke's notebook.

The next thing I heard were several giggles and sneers, but I was in to much of a haze to really care. Instead I sat myself up, and inclined my head to look right into those eyes I have admired for so long.

There was nothing. My mind went blank, and all I could see... All I could think about was the expressionless emotion that masked all that agony. Those doors that only barely peeked into his soul tantalized me, not budging to open any farther, and held my gaze for who knows how long.

Then they sharpened into a harder shade of onyx, and steeled over, immediately shutting the doors in my face.

"It helps to watch where you are going," he said. His tone was so smooth, like velvet. It melted off his tongue... but it was so lifeless. The infliction pulled at the strings of my heart. "What did you want anyway," he added. I could feel my ears and cheeks heating. I would never understand why it took me so long to realize this embarrassing fact, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Not once had I ever spoken to Sasuke Uchiha directly. Of course I'd let slip a few gestures, hellos, and good mornings... but this?

"I-uhm-"

"Spit it out already." He wasn't rude, just... I wasn't sure. Blunt I suppose.

"Y-your notebook," I stuttered. I picked it out from my own scattered things and stood. "You left it in home room. I thought you might need it."

Sasuke's brows furrowed only a fraction more than their usual set. He reached for the notebook in my hands and idly flipped through it, confirming the fact that it was, indeed, his. Then his eyes found mine again. I waited, at a loss for words, for him to show me some sort of gratitude. He simply nodded and said-

"Hn."

Oh.

I immediately downcast my view, and knelt to the ground to pick up my things. I couldn't help what was about to slip my lips, but as quiet as I was... I was still a very prideful person.

"I'll take that as a thank you." I added only a hint of sarcasm, but I kept my tone like his. Holding nothing of my true emotions. Nervous, confused, fond, disappointed, embarrassed, flustered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his dark sneakers turn the opposite direction and silently move away.

To think the negative emotions would begin overlapping the positive ones at this point, they surprisingly didn't. Instead I was... happy. At least he said something, even if it wasn't more than a grunt. To his fan girls, he didn't even look at them. In fact he acted as if they didn't exist.

For a moment, I was content. Coming from Sasuke, to me, that was a thank you...

"Thank you..."

My head snapped in his direction, and I swear my eyes bulged wide, ready to pop out of my head. He had stopped walking, though his back was to me. But there was no doubt that the sweet, smooth gratitude had been given by him.

"... Sakura." And then he was walking again, where soon he disappeared around the corner, leaving me in a stunned stupor as an obstacle in the hallway.

Perhaps today had actually been different.


	2. January

_**January: If it's to good to be true; that probably means that it is.**_

Konoha High School's track and field team. That's where my athletic skills resided. I had joined the track team back during the sixth grade, only because I wasn't good at basketball, like a girl my age named Tenten. Or Soccer, like Temari. And there was no way I would be accepted by Karin or Ino in the cheer leading squad even if I cared to try out.

But when it really came down to it, I was good at this. Track had a variety of events to participate in, and my talents suited exceptionally for pole vault, and the hurdles.

Sasuke's area of expertise was also the hurdles.

This was the only time Sasuke and I have ever spent together; School, training, and socially rated that is, and even then we never shared glances, or words. Just the dust we left behind after each hurdle.

I sat near the back on our school's charter bus, the team was on it's way to the sound county for it's first away meet. See, Konoha didn't really sport football. Anything else but that. The pride of our leaves was in the track and field team, so it was a year round supported sport instead of just in the spring. So yes even in the middle of winter, we were participating in one of our first few meets of the year.

I sat alone, as usual. My own little space would be better known as a solitary confinement. I didn't really have friends. Sure Hinata was nice enough to eat lunch with me sometimes, but she wasn't on the team... therefore I was alone.

Not for long though.

I had leaned my head against the window, mentally preparing for the long trip to the sound county when something grabbed my shoulder and gave me a slightly rough shake.

"Hey!" A voice so loud could never be misguiding as to who it belonged to. None other than Naruto Uzumaki. But why was he talking to me? Even his league was beyond mine, he was a complete socialite, another popular in our high school no matter how loud he was. I always thought he was kind of sweet, in an annoying way but still... why was he talking to me?

I took a moment to take note that he was leaning over the extra space in my seat. Other team members; and yes Naruto was on the track team, were taking their seats near the front... but there stood Sasuke, right behind his best friend... eyes locked onto mine, mercilessly taunting his mysteries at me in almost a mocking manner.

There was something else, a nameless something I couldn't depict from his orbs of black. They expressed some sort of acknowledgment, something I remembered seeing the last time our eyes connected less than three months before. There hadn't been much progress since then. In fact, each day passed normally like those in the past... but here we were again, mere eye contact sent thrills throughout my body...

And then he looked away, the exchange barely lasted two seconds before he was taking the seat across the isle from mine. And I was stupidly rendered speechless once again. My ears started ringing, and the noise of the bus caught up to me as if those brief two seconds were enough to block out everything else that existed beyond Sasuke and I.

"- mind if I take this seat?" Naruto's voice also jogged me from my trance. I only heard the last part of his question, but thank God it was enough to make coherent without looking even more stupid and spacey than I already did. I gave him a quaky nod before hastily turning back to my window.

...

We were annihilating the opposing teams when it came to sportsmanship and scores. The sound runners were a bunch of rotten cheaters, and the rain county wasn't any better. Neji broke our schools record in the discus throw, where Choji beat his own father's set record at shot put. Lee and Sasuke set the standards pretty high for long jump, as well as Naruto did for high jump. But when it came down to the running events, Sasuke and Naruto were the fastest runners on our team.

I watched on the sidelines, where other teammates lounged and stretched as they waited to participate in their individual events. I clapped and congratulated when it was appropriate. Even for the other schools, though most of the participants were cold and rude. It became apparent how sorely the sound was losing when Sasuke made his way to the sidelines in between his events. A group of three; two boys and a girl, that had been sitting on the bench beside mine sneered as he passed.

Sasuke noticed, I could see the slight twitch in his lips, that trademark smirk of his that exposed his rare confidence. Something he only expressed during practices and meets, or whenever he was around Naruto. Sasuke looked like he was at ease when he used that smirk, in less pain. My heart raced each time I was graced of seeing it.

One of the sound students on the bench scoffed. His dark beady eyes followed the Uchiha menacingly, hate hit Sasuke's back like daggers. I could absentmindedly feel my teeth clench.

"Can't believe we're placing behind a filthy Uchiha."

Sasuke froze, his shoulder blades suddenly hunched and he became tense and rigid. The dark aura that rapidly washed off of him in waves made me shiver. Slowly, ever so slowly that it was painful to watch, Sasuke dawned his eyes on the opposing team's runner. They were sharp and dark, like shards of glass that Sasuke would more than love to cut the kid's throat with.

"What did you just say," Sasuke spat. I had never seen Sasuke like this. This dark side of him never surfaced, never in front of me at least, but I had always known it was there. He always held this inner hate, where his pain was born, for what made him feel so alone.

... His hate longed to take his revenge on the reason his family was gone. Though Sasuke never knew the reason himself, but his family name was his pride... the only proof he had that bond.

And for someone to insult it... they might as well have signed their own death wish.

"You heard me." The kid jumped up from his seat on the bench, the girl who had been sitting beside him gave Sasuke an ugly scowl, though I was sure Sasuke's only beef was with the kid who had started this whole farce. "I said-"

"Zaku." The other boy of the three stood and grabbed the one known as Zaku's shoulder. The right side of his face was bandaged as if he had suffered some injury, but it was fairly obvious he was the leader of their little pack because Zaku stopped his verbal assault. "Don't start a mess, got it? There are a few events left, don't waist your energy on venting."

For a long winded moment Zaku and Sasuke glared at each other. I could literally see the gears turning in Zaku's brain; considering. Finally he broke eye contact and muttered- "Let's go."

It took me a second to notice that I was actually shaking. From fear? Yes. But mostly from anger. How dare he. How dare he mock the Uchiha name in front of one of it's last known survivors. All the counties knew about the Uchiha family's horrible massacre twelve years ago, only leaving Sasuke and Itachi as frail orphans. Zaku was sick, and twisted, and empty. And Sasuke should know better than to fall for his bull.

"Are you okay?" I don't know why I asked. I don't even remember deciding to ask. I just did. It was a knee-jerk reaction, as if I had always been here to comfort him when he needed it. In truth I was, I just never made the effort to try, and Sasuke never gave an opportunity. Now it was hanging before me in the air, and I took hold of it.

Though the effect was less of what I wanted and more of what I expected from Sasuke. His dark, sorrowful eyes fell on me with a look that could kill.

"Mind your own business," he said lowly, his words taking a stab at my heart. He was threatening me, someone he has known his whole life without really _knowing_ them.

I could feel my features set in their own hazardous mask. I reluctantly peeled my gaze away, looking across the field where Zaku and his group had stalked off too. I could feel my own hate for him boil for bringing out Sasuke's pain... for making things worse.

"I was only concerned. No one can possibly understand but-" I hesitantly glanced back at him, his eyes were only melting from their hardness by just a fraction, waiting for my statement... perhaps contemplating and curious as to what I actually have to say. That acknowledgment lingered in their abyss again, like the look he gave me on the bus.

"-I know... I know it must be so painful, Sasuke." My voice shook, and I could feel myself lean over the railing that was keeping me emotionally balanced. This was the first time I ever verbally expressed how much I had seen Sasuke give away about his solitude... the first time I gave a hint that I actually cared and yearned for him to not be alone.

His brows furrowed only just, eyes scanning me in a way that made me shiver. He was looking right through me.

"You don't know anything."

I felt my chest constrict in a silent, dry sob.

"Sasuke," I barely whispered. Locking his gaze with mine, I spilled everything with my eyes. I couldn't stop myself, and I don't know exactly what I was giving away but I knew he could see it. The doors his eyes held opened just slightly more; almost as if they were begging me to push them ajar. All I could think was that he didn't have to be alone, he didn't always have to suffer... he didn't always have to carry the burden himself. And I wanted more than anything, to lift that weight off his shoulders.

And the saddest thing was; Sasuke himself was choosing to be alone, because he turned away.

"Sasu-" My plea was interrupted by the sound of the announcer screeching across the field. Both Sasuke and I glanced up at the speaker box above the sidelines.

"Can I please have the following participants report to the track for the hurdling race? Of the fire county; Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha-" There was an eruption of cheers from the stand as Sasuke's fan girls jumped up and down on the bleachers and chanted his name. The rest of the runner's names were drowned out by my own aching... I felt dizzy and my ears started ringing.

It startled and surprised, and extremely shocked, me when Sasuke grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the track.

"Come on. We have some sound's ass to kick."

As Sasuke lead my stunned tense body to the track, my eyes lingered in the general direction that I felt a nagging disturbance pierce through me from. There, across the field, Zaku had stopped walking with his gang... he stared directly at me. A sickening shiver ran up my spine, one of hate and fear. I quickly looked away, jogging to keep up with Sasuke's pace.

I didn't get it. Barely seconds ago he was blowing me off, and now he was tugging me along to the track by the hand? As soon as his fingers had brushed my wrist; after of course the initial shock of him even touching me, I felt this sort of magnetic pull to him. As if as soon as we made physical contact, I was drawn into his personal bubble.

But I might also just be imagining it. The only reason Sasuke was this forward was because he wanted to hurry and get the race started, so that he could beat the sound. And if I were just the tiniest amount of emotionally upset, he knew I would have taken my time to the line up.

That had to be it. It was the only explanation to Sasuke's hard eyes and set features. To his brisk walk, and irises of determination. The gesture wasn't of any acceptance, and knowing this made my heart sink.

"Runners take your mark!" I blinked, and realized that I was already in my respective lane for the race. I had let myself become distracted, and now I was standing there limply like an idiot. I glanced to lane four, the lane to the left of my own belonged to Sasuke. Lane six on the other hand, held my least favorite person to my discomfort. Zaku casted his eyes on me, the same look he had given me from across the field and smirked.

"You don't have a prayer," he whispered menacingly. I winced, but the blow of my pride made my inner stubbornness bubble up. Insult Sasuke in a way that actually causes him more emotional turmoil than what he already faces, and I'll slit your throat. Belittle me, and I'll throttle you with my bare hands.

Hurdles were my element, and lest Zaku believe it, I had the advantage over him. But his ego, that boiled and brewed out of his flesh in an aura so sickening it made me want to hurl, wouldn't let him take knowledge of that fact until it was to late.

I crouched, only fixing my eyes on the obstacles ahead. My vision practically tunneled on my lane in particular, and the noise of the meet was drowned out of reach.

"Get set!" I straightened my knees, ready to propel myself forward. My focus span was only large enough to think around the white fence in front of me. And as soon as I was over it, it was on to the next one. I never counted how many hurdles there were, or the steps it took before I had to leap over them. I never thought about how high I had to jump, or how fast I had to go.

My only goal was to make it over one obstacle at a time. If anyone was unable to do that, they would fall... and they would fall into a pit of never-ending darkness, self pity, and suffering.

Just like where Sasuke was now.

_Bang!_ The sound of the gun echoed, and I launched myself forward. I had always been shorter than the other runners, especially Sasuke who's strides were twice as long as mine. But I had always been able to keep pace, making up the lost distance in the hurdle itself. For my jump always had longer distance.

Sasuke pulled in front of me, there was no surprise there. As good as I was, I wasn't as fast as Sasuke. But I was better than the others, and that became clear when Zaku snarled in defiance and rage, trying to push himself faster, barely a second behind me.

I was approaching the third or fourth hurdle, I wasn't sure I never counted. I separated my strides, pushing farther and faster, my ponytail swayed and whipped me across my cheeks and neck. My breath was even, my eyes were set... I was in the zone. I pushed off the ground into a jump, when a hand fell across my right shoulder blade, and it was then that I felt my zone shatter.

You know those cliche movie scenes, that when someone was about to bite it the entire world slowed down around them, giving that person enough time to realize what was going to happen next and have their life flash before their eyes.

Well... it actually happens.

The crowd jumping up and down froze in mid-air, as well as the runners around me. My shin, in such and agonizingly slow motion, scraped over the top of the hurdle. My balance was lost and I was caught in the middle of my flight, long enough for gravity to kick in.

Instead of seeing the blue sky on the horizon I saw the black, tar strip of my lane rocket itself up to meet me. Instinct, to not get my face thrown against the ground, kicked in and I stuck out my hands. My knee hit first and skid along the rough texture of the track. My right wrist hit next with a deafening wretched snap and a shot of white- hot pain. I felt a release of torment rip itself from my throat as I collapsed to my side and rolled with the rest of the momentum.

I clenched my teeth against the urge to verbally express the hell I was going through as the stabbing and throbbing pain vibrated up my right arm in merciless waves. My knee burned and tingled, each gruff pebble gnawed at my scathed skin. I coiled into a ball, swallowing the addled agony and cradling my arm to my chest.

"Sakura..." Oh please, please just kill me now. Anything to escape that voice, that line of vision I'll see when I open my eyes to meet his.

But there was no inhabiting anger swimming through the ever present misery in his eyes. Instead there was a darker fog, like patches of apprehension.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm... yeah I-" I had completely forgotten the race at this point. All I could concentrate on was the shock value Sasuke's contradictions had over me. I was drawing a complete blank, marveling as I witnessed Sasuke's rare acts of emotion. I was only, reluctantly, pulled from the moment when the pain viciously ripped through my body again. I winced.

"Yeah that's what I thought. Your leg is pretty beat up and your-" his eyes froze on my wrist, distress now overwhelming his features before his eyes were filled with animosity again.

"Oh- I-I, my wrist- I t-think I sprained it," I lied. I always stuttered when I lied making me one horrible liar. But being so close to Sasuke wasn't helping my speech either. I got a look for that statement. That same look of familiarity and acknowledgment he always gave me. But now there was annoyance clearly lingering there.

"Don't be so flippant and annoying Sakura. You and I both know it's broken."

Though he was obviously pissed beyond no end, Sasuke took my arm ever-so-softly and gently pulled it in his direction. I sucked in some breath to keep from whimpering pathetically. He held my wrist delicately in his open hand, lightly stroking over the bone to find the fracture. And even more... he was shaking, his eyes concentrating so hard I could hardly believe he was giving my wrist his own look over before the nurse made it onto the track.

It came to my realization that he was... distracting himself. How did I know? Because with each boast and crow of victory Zaku gave at the finish line, Sasuke twitched with fury.

The only question was... was he infuriated with the fact that Zaku pushing me had cost him the race... or was his vexation solely on the fact that Zaku had caused me physical harm?

I relished in the numbing vibe I received from Sasuke's soft fingers. It was almost magnetic... and for that moment I set myself at ease by believing the latter was behind Sasuke's forwardness.


	3. February

_**February: The time of memories, bonds, and love... for some.**_

It was always apparent when Sasuke was having a severely crappy day. And it was only made worse when others didn't seem to realize it though Sasuke went out of his way to make it obvious. Others meaning- fan girls.

The signs of knowing when Sasuke Uchiha is in a really bad mood are as follows...

He would come to school looking as if he had just rolled out of bed after a sleepless night. His features were cut sharper, his frown was almost shaped as if it were permanently sculpted that way, there were dark circles under his wary eyes, and his hair looked as if it was one rake through away from being ripped out of his skull.

He wouldn't even pay Naruto the slightest attention. You could see the set in his jaw, framed in a way that expressed his anxiety in lashing out at his own best friend for how crummy he felt that day. And Naruto himself knew he had to keep his distance. They stuck close to each other, like always, it was just silent between them. This was off because Naruto always had his mouth running.

Lastly, showing how much Sasuke could really care less about himself or anyone else for the matter, he was wearing his sleek rectangular glasses.

The Uchiha family had a genetic defect with their sight. In fact its been passed down in their family for generations. It has to do with some sort of curse, where the Uchiha's used to be greedy and sought power, and in order to gain it they shut their eyes from the light. But that's just old legend, reality was that Sasuke was partially blind without his glasses.

On a normal day, seeing without his glasses didn't seem to bother him. He never wore contacts as far as I knew. But if Sasuke was having a day where he couldn't see, he was having a day where everyone could really see what a mess he was.

So why did Sasuke look like a wreck? A bad day obviously. But why was he having a bad day? Simple. It was Valentine's day.

I threw him a sympathetic glance across our AP Calc class. Lately there have been more looks and gestures shared between Sasuke and I. Nothing special, but definitely something... different. He merely gave me miserable look, it was almost begging. I wasn't sure exactly what he wanted, perhaps something along the lines of shooting him where he sat right here and now to save him from this horrid day, but whatever it was... I was tempted to give it to him.

A couple girls giggled behind him and started whispering as they bent over a small, pink paper. Their eyes kept peaking up to Sasuke's slumped back, and they were thrown into more hysterical fits of giggles.

It was disgusting. How could they possibly think of him the same way they do on any other day as compared to when he looked so desolate?

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling with a look that definitely pleaded for someone to kill him.

And then the bell shrilled.

Sasuke winced, not even bothering to jump out of his seat and bolt for the door because he knew he wouldn't make it. The fan girls flooded around him instantly.

They giggled and squawked his name like screeching vultures.

"Be my valentine Sasuke!"

"No! Sasuke! Pick Me!"

"No! Me! Me!"

I watched uneasily as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to explode. I witnessed this each year, but I wasn't sure why I couldn't handle it this time. He just looked so lost, and anguished, and misunderstood, and annoyed beyond comprehension.

I inhaled deeply, then pushed myself through the crowd of females. Why? I have no idea. It was possibly the most imbecilic, moronic thing I've ever done in my whole life. There was pushing, shoving, grabbing, pulling, clawing, chanting, shouting... it all twisted together in a violent hurricane that left me feeling my way through the mob blindly.

That is... until my own reach glanced against cold flesh. I clamped onto his arm and gave a mighty pull while reeling backwards out of the storm.

"What are you doing?" In a vision of chaos I found sanctuary in those eyes. Black, black, black. Eyes that did weird and wondrous things to my heart. Eyes that were slowly, oh-so-slowly, opening up to me. Black eyes that, if they caught the right light, had a slight gleam of crimson flashing around his irises. Eyes that expressed solitude, frustration, agony, and... confusion.

"Saving you," I muttered in his ear. Surprisingly enough he didn't argue. In fact his onyx orbs widened in desperation. Another fact... he was the one to take my- casted- hand and tug me out of the swarmed classroom.

With myself in tow, Sasuke briskly raced down the stretch of linoleum and lockers.

"Where is he?"

"Sasuke come back!"

We turned the corner, the voices of nearly fifty fan girls followed. Sasuke ripped open a door to a dark, unoccupied classroom and rushed us inside just as the hoard of girls ran past.

"If I had known you could save yourself, I wouldn't have gotten myself involved in _that_," I stated absently as I cracked the door back open a stole a peak back out into the hall.

"Hn."

I let my eyes follow his voice. He was now at the opposite end of the classroom, leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed into his pockets. A position of waiting out what he knew was beyond the door. He stared blankly through his, attractive enhancing, spectacles out the window. For a second I actually felt pity for him. I never really felt that towards him and his situation before. He didn't want to be pitied. He didn't want anyone's sympathy. I knew that. That's why I never forwardly expressed my own care for him.

Actually I did once, but I had learned my lesson. Back in the third grade I finally built up the courage to give him a card on this very holiday. I will admit I was still slightly naive in my feelings for Sasuke, but I did understand him- even if it was the tiniest amount of understanding. So I didn't sign my name. I only later saw Sasuke at the annual Konoha Valentine's bonfire, throwing a backpack load of pink and purple cards into the fire, his face twisted in disgust.

_'No one should be alone on Valentine's day.'_

Pink crayon on a plain piece of white paper.

I never sent Sasuke gifts or cards ever again.

After my initial ache I was aware as too why Sasuke did this. All you had to do was look at the hell he went through on this holiday. But I didn't pity the fact that he was alone. It was merely the sight of how unkept he looked at the moment. In fact the pity rocketed up from my stomach, coursed through my throat and out my mouth in a fit of quiet giggles. He shot me a second confused glance resulting in two rare outbreaks of emotion in less than ten minutes.

"Why are you laughing?"

I just shook my head sympathetically.

"You look awful."

He made a groaning sound of displeasure and turned away again. So I pressed my lips together in an act to fight the reoccurring waves of laughter, and opened the door a little wider. No one was in the hall so I stuck my head out and took notice in all directions.

"I think they are gone." Suddenly a warm fog rushed over me causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. He took hold of the door just above my head and glanced out himself. His sudden closeness made me shiver.

"Give it a minute," he stated monotonously. "They'll be back." Sure enough we could hear cries and sobs of around the corner. We retreated partially, leaving the door open with a crack again as we watched girls run by in the opposite direction they had passed last time. I was overwhelmed with disappointment on my own gender that I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"It's like an unwritten law. If Sasuke Uchiha is alone on Valentine's day, everyone is alone on Valentine's day." Said boy snorted, and out of the corner of my eye I could see a smirk of accusation twitch the corners of his lips upward.

"It's their own fault," his quiet voice brushed my ear and I resisted the urge to shudder again. It would be more noticeable this time. "Any of them can have whoever they want, but their efforts are wasted on me." I turned to him, watching him stare out the tiny space between the door and the door frame. That pain was flashing like a lightning storm whose clouds were formed by guilt. His brows furrowed uncomfortably for a moment. "I almost feel like the reason for the decline in teenage pregnancies," he said bitterly.

Did Sasuke Uchiha just attempt to crack a joke?

Now fighting off the urge to laugh again I too glanced into the hallway. Girls were spinning in every which-way direction, calling his name in voices of seduction. It reached my ears as noisy whines. And for a brief moment I could see why Sasuke felt guilty about this. Each girl was beautiful in heir own way. They could have any other guy in the world, they had the potential to find reasonable love, but instead they fawn over someone who could never return their feelings reasonably.

"No one should be alone on Valentine's day," I whispered. My words traveled in Sasuke's direction and he stiffened. I gave him my attention, and nearly lost my secondary nature to breathe. He was so close, his stature bent as he leaned over my side. Our noses were a half foot apart... and his eyes...

They held mine questioningly... And I could almost read them, the doors peaking open just barely more.

"What," I breathed silently. But he watched me, eyes searching for something in mine. And I was afraid he wouldn't be able to find it, and...

He sighed, eyes closing and releasing me. I choked out an uneven breath, just as he pulled the door open in front of us. The hallway was abandoned.

"It's nothing."


	4. April

_**April: The most predictable month of the year.**_

It's prom night.

I sit in the familiar recliner chair of my favorite coffee house, sipping on Jasmine apple cider and reading the overrated end of the Twilight series. My mother used to take me to this coffee shop every morning on our commute to my elementary school and her work. My father My father would already be gone by this time.

She always ordered me the Jasmine apple cider, my favorite. But during my fifth grade year my mother received a promotion and had to get up as early as my father. Its been the same since then. I only saw them at ten when they walked into my bedroom and wished me goodnight.

But I never released this part of my childhood. Like Sasuke and his name, this coffee shop reminded me of the bond I used to have with my parents. I walked here every morning, and came after school every day to study or read. I even had a part time job during the summer here as I knew the owner so well.

So I lounge in my home away from home, enjoying the peace as the buzz over prom night was elsewhere. Dances and school activities had never really been my forte.

If Sasuke had asked me to prom, would I have gone?

Not a chance. I would have invited him here instead...


	5. May

_**May: April showers turn into May tears.**_

For the longest time I always thought that I was on my own. That I had to fend for myself as a result of having distanced parents. But what a fool I've been.

It had always hurt before... but now there was no sense of security to fall back on... and it felt like there was no one left to watch my back. At least, that's how it felt at first...

Because now I was truly on my own... and my regrets? The second of shame I felt when I realized the agony I've been through my entire life was bubbling inside me more so than the very moment I received the news.

I sit under the cemetery's old oak; knees pulled up to my chest as I shelter myself from the evening's rain. The tip of my nose stings from the frigid cold air, and my pastel pink locks are plastered to my cheeks, neck and lashes. I stare blankly at the grave before me... those names never felt so unfamiliar.

It's too wet and cold to tell if I'm even crying anymore.

I know he's here. He's been here for some time now. I don't even bother seeing for myself, to make sure it's not just my running imagination. Its reality... I can feel it. And that sense is the only thing keeping me sane as I stare at those names that should _not_ be so alien.

It's the feeling that triumphed over my shame in an instant. Because I realized that I've always felt alone- even though I wasn't, and the pain was far greater than what I _should_ feel now- where I don't feel alone even though I am.

And it's all because of him, and the relishing emotions as to knowing he is here and why.

It would be to much for him to put his arm around me, to pull me into an embrace, or to take my hand... I know that. So therefore I don't wish for anything more as he pushes away from the trunk of the tree behind me and occupies a seat at my side instead. Because it's enough.

... it's enough to let me know that there is someone watching.

He would never have to do anything more for me than to just be here... to watch with those eyes that held his hidden soul through those glasses that gave him away like an open book. To sit so freely through the damp darkness of the world that matted his hair against his strictly defined jaw and brow. To remain in that everlasting comfortable silence that was oh-so-comforting and accepting.

Because I know... when Sasuke does this; he does it only for me...

"Hinata told Naruto..."

I only nod and hold myself tighter. He doesn't have to explain anything. He's here, and we wage through loneliness together.


	6. June

_**June: The first step to anything is realization.**_

"Sakura."

I turned my attention to that hypnotizing voice. My heart raced at unnatural speeds upon hearing the familiarity of my own name slip of his tongue. The sound was so good... I couldn't help myself. I smiled... in fact I beamed.

"Yes Sasuke?"

The bell had just signaled the end of our AP Calc class. Our last AP Calc class. Our last day of school. Our last day as children... possibly our last day of acknowledgment as we were about to take on the rest of our lives.

This cruel realization hit me so hard I lost my breath. I had to lean back against the desk, where I had been packing my things away before Sasuke had approached. I clutched my right arm to my chest- now cast free- my usual sign of distress. I suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented. I clutched the desk to keep myself upright.

Sasuke noticed. His brows furrowed in question and he took a step closer. His stature was fairly casual with one hand stuffed in the pocket of his dark jeans and the other lounging on the strap of his backpack. But he seemed to stiffen at the sudden ill I received. The worry in his eyes made my heart skip several beats.

"Sorry," I struggled. "I'm fine."

No, I was not fine. Why hadn't I thought about this before? All year I knew it would be our last. I knew deep down that... I may never see him again. I just refused to believe it. Before I couldn't accept it; Sasuke needed someone. He needed me. And it had taken me over half my life to realize... just after my parents died I was finally able to see that it wasn't just him. It was me too. I needed him.

But now... I hadn't prepared myself for this. What if he was about to walk out of my life forever? What if, what if what if...

While I silently sank into a hurricane of disdain, Sasuke reached deeper into his pocket and pulled out a slip of folded paper.

"You dropped this before," he stated simply. His eyes remained locked on mine sending me through all those torturous emotions I had endured for so many years. Emotions I wasn't ready to let go of yet... if I was ever ready.

The paper lapsed me from my testation. It was worn from age, and wrinkled. Perhaps ripped in some places as well. I didn't recognize it.

"I-I don't think that's-"

Sasuke huffed in annoyance, his eyes looked tempted to roll to the ceiling.

"Look I know this was in your possession before I found it. I'm just returning it to its owner. So take it, if it's not yours then I don't care what you do with it." He stated this rather calmly, but there was still a demanding bite to his tone... almost begging.

I reached out and took the slip, not once releasing his eyes. I didn't want to. I never wanted to let go of the mystery, I just-

He was walking away. His steps took him farther and farther with each passing second, and I-

I didn't do anything.

I could have said so many things. I could have told him how I felt, or at least I could have wished him luck. Not that he would want my praise or acknowledgment.

All I did was allow silent tears to brew into my eyes and fog my vision.

The folded piece of paper was like an anchor that weighed me down. It was simple and frail... so why did it feel like it was holding me back?

When I convinced myself to care enough to unfold it I found the answer.

Pink crayon.

_No one should be alone-_

The words Valentine's day were crossed out with blue crayon and a new word was scribbled above them.

**_-ever._**

I didn't want to chalk up the time I wasted by gawking at the flimsy piece of paper in my hand... but it felt like more than that. It felt like my heart. Racing with happiness and breaking with misery all at the same time. The feeling was extraordinary, and I never wanted it to stop. My tears fell freely now.

My legs had a mind of their own, using the power I obtained from track to propel me through the hall and out the side doors of the school into the parking lot.

"Sasuke!"

He stopped. His posture was the same as a few moments ago when he handed me the note. I was panting slightly, frozen a few feet away from him.

He slowly turned to face me but... I closed my eyes. Catching my breath, building my courage, squeezing my eyes tight...

"Sasuke-" I swallowed. I clutched both my arms to my chest, closing myself from rejection. But I couldn't let him just walk away... he had to know, had to know, had to know.

"Sasuke I'm so in love with you I can't even stand it!" Even as tightly as I kept my eyes shut, tears still rivered over the brims and cascaded down my cheeks. "It hurts more than anything to see you so alone and sad. I would do anything and everything to make it all go away. I would do anything just for you, Sasuke!"

My breathing picked up in speed the more I pulled myself tighter. I couldn't even control what I was saying anymore. It was almost like word vomit... only it was willingly pouring out of me.

"I wouldn't care if the love between us was only one sided. You wouldn't have to do anything for me Sasuke except to be happy. As long as you wouldn't be alone then I wouldn't care if I was the only one of us who felt this way, because I need you. And whether you know or believe it or not... you need me too..."

For once since meeting my first love, I didn't want to look into his eyes. I didn't want to see the anger, the hurt, the hate... the defection.

"Ten years."

My eyes shot open and he was right there. As close as I had heard him.

"What?"

He chuckled darkly; no humor graced his silent laugh as he shoved both his hands deeper into his pockets, eyes scanning the parking lot around us. The school was empty as everyone had been in a hurry to start their summers.

"For the past ten years I've been trying to figure you out. I couldn't understand why you were so different, why I couldn't read you as easy as everyone else. There was always something about you I didn't get." His eyes met mine for a fraction of a second. It was a manner of a desperate search for answers he couldn't find... something caught in my throat.

"Haven't you ever realized we've had classes together since the second grade?"

"Of course," I choked out quickly. He snorted, a forced smirk tugged at his violet tinted lips.

"Back then I just concluded that you were the most annoying person on the face of the planet. I..." he looked as if he struggled for words now. "... _hated_ how _you_ could drive me to the brink of insanity with a look that, at a second glance, gave me balance again."

A pause. We looked at each other for a long time... minutes, hours, years, eternities.

"There is a saying. 'The eyes are the window to the soul.'" I waited as he held my soul at his mercy... why hesitate, I wondered. It was his, he could have it, take it, do whatever he pleased with it but... His irises tried so hard to penetrate mine. All those times I thought he could see right through me, he had only been trying in vain. But why?

"I've seen a lot of souls Sakura. All obvious and naively given to the world. But I have never seen yours."

I wasn't able to comprehend the possibility of feeling so light but being pushed back by a force that kept me away from him. Ironically the silent pain I have felt in the past ten years that Sasuke spoke of couldn't even compare to the heart break I was receiving right now. The idea was almost comical on a sick degree. I even released a choked laugh through my tears, causing Sasuke's eyes to narrow.

"Sakura, your the only person I've ever actually explained myself to... and your laughing? You think this is some kind of joke?"

I thought about my answer... it wasn't a joke. Not to him... not to me. But whoever was hurting us like this...

"Its just that... for the longest time I never thought you were even aware of my existence. That you were the one that nobody could read. But I was always able to understand that you shut yourself away to rid the entrance of any form of pain... where I have never been so open with anyone other than you since the day I met you. Yet your the one who's been trying to read me... and I'm the one who's known you all along."

My tears and fear for the moment of his leave never retreated. I knew what Sasuke was doing and why... why he was actually expressing something. He cared... he actually cared about me let alone himself. He didn't wish pain on anyone, but he didn't believe I was what he deserved. He didn't think I was enough to save him now... because he couldn't understand why I was so different. This was his way of telling me to let go... but I couldn't.

"You haven't changed, Sakura." I pierced myself into his gaze, mentally pleading. "You're still annoying."

"Sasuke."

He sighed and turned away. My heart stammered.

No!

"Sasuke please!" I pushed myself in front of him, blocking his path, His eyes were apathetic, begging me to let it go.

He didn't want to hurt me.

But he didn't want to hurt anymore.

"I'm begging you, don't walk away! You're looking at this wrong, it doesn't have-"

"What do you want from me Sakura," he snapped. I winced in reaction but held my ground.

"I know you can read me. I'm more of an open book to you than anyone. And your scared of that. You just can't trust whether you can believe it. You are afraid that there is actually someone who truly cares about you because you have been alone for so long." He opened his mouth to protest through gritted teeth. "Don't deny it Sasuke... Because I understand...I understand everything. And it didn't just take the death of my parents for realization to hit me. Deep down I've known all along..."

His eyes melted into pools of dark abyss. His soul was a storm of disbelief, suffering, and defeat... and it broke my heart.

"Then tell me. How can _you_ possibly make it all go away?"

His soul asked so many questions, all different...

_'How can you prove it to me?'_

_'Why me?'_

_'How can I deserve you?'_

_'What is it about you that makes me want to trust you?'_

_'Why you?'_

But they all meant the same thing.

How could I make the misery and solitude go away?

I only had one answer though...

"Kiss me," I whispered.

He looked at me questioningly, the look in his eyes only barely revealed a fraction of confusion amongst the whirlpool of sorrow. His gaze dug into my skin, making me wish it caused actual physical pain if it took some, if any, of that isolation away.

How he could even say that he has never seen my soul was a complete mystery to me. For so long I've practically dropped it into his lap... but if I had actually had a doubt of him not being able to read me before, then it quickly disintegrated at this very moment.

_'Are you sure?'_

_'From the bottom of my heart.'_

"Okay," he whispered back.

He was already so close, he simply towered over me a good foot. He pulled his left hand from his pocket and traced his fingers across my wrist that lay limp against my side. The feather-light touch made my stomach squirm. His other hand slowly drifted into my line of vision, the tips of his fingers brushed several strands of hair from my brow and declung some from my tear streaked cheek. A flutter sensation erupted through my chest. His hand stroked across my cheek and stopped abruptly at my jaw. My toes curled inside my sneakers.

He followed his own movements with his eyes, while I was simply content with watching every shift his soul made. All his walls had come crashing down, and Sasuke's soul was just... Sasuke. The difference was the acceptance... the allowance... the ticket I now held to his heart. Even if he were to walk away from me today, I had wiggled my way into his heart, his soul. And he would think of me, and he would know that he had never been and never will be alone.

He shifted his stance and moved his face closer. Even as I expected this, even with as much time as I had to prepare as Sasuke took his time to do the same, the exhilarating feeling wasn't merciful and shook my core to no end. It hit me full blown in the chest. My nerves bubbled up in my throat and my breath hitched and escaped me. I couldn't remember where I was, or my own name. Something plump and soft touched my lips... brushed them ever-so-lightly.

I gasped at how intensely my heart threw itself against my chest. My lips tingled at his touch, and my world started spinning. I could feel my knees buckle beneath me, but a sturdy arm quickly secured itself around my waist pulling me closer to an even sturdier figure.

I was suddenly hyper aware of Sasuke. His hand cupping my face, his arm keeping my balance, his lips gracing mine; only milliseconds away from claiming them. His chest pressed against my own... and the weight of his loneliness pushing on my shoulders as if it was its own gravity.

I would never want anything more than this moment... this is where I fit, where I belong... where I wanted to forever stay.

I simply closed my eyes, now having all the happiness in the world as Sasuke entrusted some of his burden to me. And he reacted by pressing his lips against mine with a deep passion who's existence I would never had been able to fathom of understanding until this moment.

It was a perfect moment in a life of imperfections.

It was moment of trading lonely souls to cherish and nurture to full health. A moment of solitary banishment from our hearts. A moment of opening doors instead of helplessly glancing through foggy windows.

* * *

_**Well? I actually worked really hard on this piece. The vocabulary is obviously ten times better at the beggining, but I was starting to lose time and I needed to finish. I would like to add an epilogue later and perhaps a seperate one shot in Sasuke's point of view. Please let me know what you guys think.**_

_**Review bitches! (Jk you guys aren't bitches.)**_


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